Writing, I believe is done by talented people because of the ability not just to write but to breathe life into the scribbled words. Almost everyone can write but it takes dedication, training and the skill for words to make an impact. Writers are like mini creators blowing life into every word.
Writers have been blessed with a third eye to see the other side of the story, to see the other ends that the normal eyes cannot see.
WRITING AS A SKILL: A skill is what someone is born with, or that is acquired with repeated teaching and training. If a skill can be acquired over time which means it can also improve over time with repeated effort and training.
Writing is hard most of the time but it shouldn’t have to be so stressful all the time. The use of big words, writing long paragraphs or always focused and thinking that you even forget to smile at the person seated next to you.
Read – Plot Development by Kimberly Chirodzero, Zimbabwe
THE EASIEST WAY TO IMPROVE THE SKILL OF WRITING
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READ WIDELY TO WRITE BETTER
Read as many books as you can, and by reading you don’t have to read a whole novel in one day, you can do a chapter, a paragraph or even a sentence. But read every day, and see how other writers use words.
Read widely even when you want to specialize in a certain genre, read the good and the bad ones, read children’s literature, long and short pieces just read. I remember in High School I only read Novels by African writers because they wrote something I could easily relate to which was totally wrong.
- Reading improves a writer’s grammar, vocabulary and English language.
- Reading exposes us to new different styles of writing and voices that can also be a source of inspiration.
- Reading helps to boost a writer’s imagination. When reading, you tend to create images inside your head since you can’t see anything.
NOTE: don’t let the reading get in the way of your writing.
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MAKE IT HABIT
Many are the time that writers only tend to wait for motivation to write and use statements like ‘I don’t feel like writing or am not in the mood to write’ but that shouldn’t be the case. For one’s writing skill to improve, one has to train every day even when feeling like you don’t want to. It takes self-discipline and continuous effort to become a better writer.
Reward yourself put some prizes to look forward to once you have achieved what you wanted to, on this one can involve another person.
As a source of inspiration to make writing have fun by playing some songs whilst writing, or drink a cup of chai.
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SURROUND YOURSELF WITH WRITERS
It is usually very difficult to explain how to see and feel about certain situations to people who are not writers. Personally, I find it difficult as most of the time I am seen as a weird being, but I thank God for Writers Space Africa where I have found people who understand my skill.
Try as much as possible to associate with other writers, like their pages and follow them on social media.
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TELL YOURSELF YOU ARE A WRITER
Writing sometimes becomes so challenging that you feel discouraged from the inside and from the outside. But always remind yourself you are a writer.
Make it a habit to introduce yourself as a writer, give yourself that title and actually write. You don’t have to wait until you write a number of books to be called a writer, I believe even if you are not published you can still be a writer. Its levels and maybe you just haven’t reached the level of publication, so keep writing to go higher.
Don’t be discouraged when your work is rejected by publishers, but rather use the rejection as a source of inspiration. Rejection isn’t always to say your work is bad but to tell you that you can actually do better
Read – Writing Styles by Kimberly Chirodzero, Zimbabwe
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SET A WRITING GOAL
It’s very important to explore and challenge yourself to write in many different genres but I believe setting a goal on what you want to achieve, where you want to be as a writer will help you to keep moving forward. Your focus will always be on the goal and not the challenges that you will face.
- What story do you want to tell and to whom do you intend to tell?
- Why are you telling the story?
- How are you going to tell it?
As a writer, I believe we have the most important job on earth. Writers tell the stories from both sides; the good and the bad, the expected and the unexpected. Writers entertain the world they are the one who writes the songs, movies etc. they preserve history and take it forth to the next generation.
Lastly, as African writers, I think we have the biggest job that is to tell our stories in our way and if don’t no one is going to do it for us. Africa has been written in a different way, maybe it is how they see it but the power is in our hands to rewrite our Africa the way it really is, which is beautiful.
Keep on writing writers.
